SOURCE: Daily Telegraph

A leading online betting firm admitted last night that they had delayed payment on bets laid on a women's match played in India after becoming concerned about what appeared to be irregular gambling patterns.

The disclosure from Betfair is the first time it has been admitted that a contest on the women's tour has come under such close scrutiny.

It comes in the wake of revelations, however, that a number of players on the men's tour, including Britain's Arvind Parmar and Belgium's Gilles Elseneer, have turned down approaches to throw matches.

The women's match in question was the quarter-final of a tournament in Kolkata two weeks ago, played by Tatiana Poutchek, the world No 96 from Belarus, and Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva, ranked 120th.

Koryttseva won 6-4, 6-2, but officials at Betfair contacted the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to inform them that they were delaying payment as they felt there was reason to investigate what seemed to be suspicious betting patterns during the match.

It is understood that almost £1 million had been wagered on the outcome.

Page 1, 2